I’m a liberal Democrat. I recognize and cheer the reduced violence in Iraq. I thank God for every life and limb spared. But I also recognize getting there has cost us the lives and limbs of more of our troops than any previous year in Iraq.

Then there’s the difference between trends and current reality. The N.Y. Times reports that while attacks in Iraq were down 55 percent last week, there were still 575 attacks. That’s still a lot of attacks.

This is your blog and you are free to put on your tinfoil hat, rose-colored glasses and proclaim victory at any moment in Iraq while savaging Democrats as defeatists and the MSM as hopelessly biased.

Your credibility is yours to throw away as you see fit. Which is what you do when you dismiss all semblance of balanced judgment in favor of pushing your political preferences.

The truth about Iraq is that by applying enough force in selected areas long enough, our military can suppress violence and reduce or even eliminate elements of the bad guys over there. That has never been in doubt.

What our troops cannot do is win a comprehensive, decisive military victory that eliminates those fighting against our troops and the Iraqi government. Not now, not in 10 years, not in 25 years. The bad guys are fighting war on the cheap and they can keep it up virtually forever, especially with external backing from several countries in the region. The tempo will slow and then speed up over time, which is usually the way with guerrilla wars.

What you see isn’t necessarily what you’re going to get tomorrow. Enjoy today’s good news, sure. Just don’t be so sure it’s going to last.

The loudest among them are leading them down the path of destruction.

I only hope they don’t realize it until its’ too late.

Any minute they may reverse postion and support the surge again if they think it is in their own best interest. We can only hope the nuts and MSM keep feeding the idiots the poison.

Otherwise , Hillary will spin the surge as her idea and claim victory as her own. Doubt it? How many times did she 180 on illegals with drivers liscenses. I only wish the American people were paying attention or were educated enough to see the liars for what they are.

Democrats Say They Won’t Back Down on War

Democrats in Congress failed once again Friday to shift President Bush’s war strategy in Iraq, but insisted that they would not let up. Their explanation for their latest foiled effort seemed to boil down to a simple question: ‘What else are we supposed to do?’